Diving - Tailor Made

Diving sites near the Marina of Cayo Largo:

Aquario - 15 mt, a splendid coral garden with abundant colourful reef fish (night dive or check dive)

Canal de los Barracudas - 8 mt, meeting shoals of barracudas and dozens of rays (night dive or check dive).

Corona and La Montana - wall dive - 25/40 mt, interesting during the season of the coupling of sea eagles that swim in dozens around divers.

Meliza - 25mt, discovering a small relict.

Only the "full days", though, allow to experience the most spectacular dives, taking place in Cayo Rosario, Cayo Blanco, Cayo Sigua.

CAYO ROSARIO (approximately 18 miles from Cayo Largo, just over one hour of navigation)

1. Albert Point: reef with a depth between 15 and 35 mt. In contrast with the extraordinarily white sand, admire white coral heads that create tortuous tunnels, passages, caves. You can meet moray eels, nurse sharks, groupers and barracudas and thousand of glass fishes at the eintrance of the caves

2. El Labirintho: Sand buttom of a dazzling white surrounded by coral heads that from 15mt descend up to 35mt in canyons, spectacularly big channels. Often you can meet dolphin shoals, gropers, eels, barracudas and schools of jureles.

CAYO BLANCO (30 miles from Cayo Largo - about 2 hours of navigation)

1. Russi Wall: Spectacular wall dive. The wall fall down in the blue from 15 up to 200 mts. depth. You can see big tubular sponges, sea fans and enormous black coral branches. And even more: big cuberas, barracudas and in every hole of the colorful wall there's a lobster. On shallow white sandy bottom divers'll meet dozens of rays in all dimensions.

2. Blanco Canyon: -10/40 mts. The reef's botttom is a splendid coral garden, full of colors and barrier reef fish. At about 17 meters a canyon in the wall falls in the blue. Also here, a spectacular wall: coral, sponges and lots of colours (it seems the Red Sea as it was 30 years ago!). In the open blue you it is possible to see sharks and also hammerhead! And often we've met dolphins. An uncontaminated coast, far from all tourists' routs

CAYO SIGUA

1. Canon de Sigua: -15/40 mts. The bottom is sandy, of very white sand, like snow, while the coral heads are very colourful and full of life. And here, on the sandy bottom, you can find all dimension rays. The canyon starts at about 15 mts and falls perpendicular : at the exit, at about 30 mts, the wall falls in the blue with terraces covered with black coral and sea fans, sand canals: an immense sight. Diver can meet enormous gropers, as in the Jardines de la Reina; once we even saw a nurse shark squeezing through one of these canals and diving down in the blue! And, as always, lobsters in every hole.

2. Langosta Reef: -10/20 mts reef garden, full of cracks and holes: in each of them there are hundreds of lobsters, barrier fish and eels.

3. BLUE HOLE: the blue hole opens up at 5 mts in a beautiful shallow reef, ideal also for snorkeling, and it contiues up to 60 and more meters. The water is incredibly clear and it's hard to notice the descent. This, anyway, is a very challenging immersion, only for experts.

These are only some of the "full day" immersions. Boats depart at about 8.30 a.m. from the diving club. Lunch, provided by the hotel, will be on board , consisting of an excellent buffet plus, often, a plate of spaghetti offered by the instructors. The day, though, is not at all over with the two immersions. The boats are at our clients' disposal: between immersions or after lunch you'll have time for snorkeling in lovely turquoise water. On the way back, there's one more stop for an aperitif on playa Sirena, on iguanas' Island or at the "Natural pool" for snorkeling or just swimming.

Last Paradise Keys (Jardines de la Reina)
Imagine 250 virgin coral islands set in a sea of turquoise and jade. Los Jardines de la Reina (The Queen's Gardens)", some 60 miles off the mainland of Cuba, are a completely undeveloped natural wilderness, extending over 75 miles. In 1996, Los Jardines de la Reina was declared a Marine Natural Park. Access is restricted and limited exclusively for Avalon Fishing and Diving Center. Commercial fishing has been banned from all but the outermost edges of the Park. The little town of Jucaro with its old fashioned wooden houses and 2000 inhabitants is your entrance to this private world of water, fish and coral. Aside from a stunning variety of marine life, the coral islands are home to a fascinating collection of birds and plants. Birds commonly seen include ospreys, pelicans, frigate birds, spoonbills, and many different sorts of heron and egret. The only mammal is the “Jutia” a tree loving animal the size of a squirrel, while reptiles are represented by a large population of iguanas. The flora is mainly palm trees, differing forms of Caribbean pine trees, sea grapes and the ever present mangroves. The 75 mile long mangrove and coral island system form what is said to be the third longest barrier reef in the world. Certainly, it it is one of the last virgin reefs available to the diving world. Like so much of the Caribbean, the real beauty is below the surface. Extensive flats teem with fish. A chain of coral reefs, very close to the southern shore of the archipelago, is made up of undisturbed and undamaged coral. Mangrove roots provide an incredible nursery for the smaller fish which in turn provide the reef with huge schools of baitfish. The quantity of food attracts enormous numbers of large fish, more than anywhere else in the Caribbean. Its possible to hand feed a 200-400 lb Jewfish almost every dive. Imagine a marine wilderness with walls covered with brightly hued sponges and corals plunging well below the limits of safe diving to shallow reefs filled with both schooling and solitary fish. The bones and maybe the booty of old Spanish galleons lie on the reefs, providing excitement for the diver and home to corals, sponges and fish. Sharks are one of the main attractions and are everywhere. You can easily dive weekly with 5 different species of “Carcarinus”; Silky, Caribbean Reef, Lemon, Black tip, Nurse and you have chances to dive also with Whale sharks and Hammerhead sharks. The best opportunity for video and photography lovers in the Jardines is from Oct until May. Water clarity and visibility are at their peak, up to 200 feet. During summer time, June-August you will have more fish around due to the reproduction season.